1988 Bochum production/2018 Bochum Revisions
The 30th anniversary of the German production saw major revisions, similar in scale to the 1992 "'New' Starlight Express" in London. The reworked material strongly resembled the 2017 Workshop. Creative team * Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber * Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe * Design by John Napier * Direction and choreography by Arlene Phillips * Assistant Director/Choreographer Ruthie Stephens * Assistant Director Steven Rosso * Assistant Choreographer Debbie Hearnden * Associate Director/Choreographer Mykal Rand (08/2019) * Musical direction by Graham Hurman * Sound design by Gareth Owen * Lighting by Rob Sinclair * Video and projection design by Duncan McLean * Skate Coach Michal Fraley * German text by Sabine Grohmann and Wolfgang Adenberg * Orchestrations by Andrew Lloyd Webber Reference, official siteEnsemble, kreativteam 2018 Production Specifics Characters Multiple character changes were made: * Ashley and Buffy were replaced by Belle the Bar Car and Carrie the Luggage van * The Hip Hoppers reverted to Rockies * The Nationals saw the Japanese engine rebranded as Manga * the Components lost Purse the Money Truck, Volta became male, and the set saw the addition of Killerwatt the Security Truck. While Killerwatt closely resembles Krupp (cut a year previously), he also performs Purse's role of Electra's messenger. The story was also refocused to redress the gender imbalance. To this end, a female character was added to each "set" of characters: * Poppa became Mama in the principal Engines * Rocky 3 became female * the National Engines saw the French Engine change from Bobo to Coco. The script was also altered to further clarify that Control is playing with toy trains. He refers to Rusty as "the first train I ever got (I was six)" and says of Pearl, "I have bought a new wagon, she cost three weeks' pocket money". Music Musically the show was considerably rewritten, particularly in the first quarter. One of the most controversial and unpopular elements of the workshop was included - Control breaks into the Overture crying "Stop that boring music!" to introduce the National Engines. The Overture consists of the same musical arrangement as the introduction to the "Starlight Sequence", and as such is one of the key musical themes in the show; to have Control dismiss this beautiful music as "boring" is jarring and alienating. "Crazy" is now Rusty's introduction, and the story-telling concerning Pearl and Rusty's relationship has been tightened. The Coaches have a new song, "I Got Me", which is a girl-power anthem developed from a theme taken from "Rolling Stock". Certain elements of the previous version of the show continue, such as the love-song "I Do". Designs John Napier has supervised significant costume redesigns. Besides new costumes for the new characters Belle, Carrie, Manga and Killerwatt, Electra has also had a notable change in that he is no longer red and blue, but nearly entirely black and silver on the original silhouette. Caboose has had a major redesign, rather than the more literal toy red Caboose, he now has "gangsta/mobster" elements, including a trilby hat, and a predominantly navy colour palette. All the makeup designs have been made much softer, with minimal use of the iconic vivid colours and strong geometric shapes. Poppa and Momma side by side.png|Poppa vs Mama Dinah 2006 vs 2018.jpg|Dinah - subtle alterations Pearl 2013 vs 2018.jpg|Pearl - Old and New Rockies old vs new.jpg|Rockies - Old and New Press At the 2018 Annual "Open DayFacebook Post, 20th August 2018" the theatre encouraged participation in the new production by offering free show tickets to children dressed in the new costume designs, and half price tickets for adults in the new costumes. 2018 Cast Rockies finale b18 press.jpg|Rockies in the Finale, with Mama and ensemble Electra Components B18 press.jpg|Electra and Killerwatt, Joule, Wrench, and Volta Coaches b18 press.jpg|Carrie, Dinah, Pearl, and Belle Caboose Components b18 press 1.jpg|Caboose and Volta, Joule, Wrench, and Killerwatt Additional cast February 2019: * Jeffrey Socia as Greaseball / Electra cover (due to Richard Woodford medical absence) * Paddy Joe Martin 2019 Cast Coaches b19 2.jpg|The Coaches Electra b19 Adam Lake.jpg|Adam Lake as Electra Caboose b19 Dan Ellison.jpg|Daniel Ellison as Caboose Coco b19 Whitney Martins.jpg|Whitney Martins as Coco The cast list was announced as the new cast began rehearsals in February 2019. * 27 New to the cast 2019 Musicians * Musical director - Matt Ramplin * 1st assistant musical director - Christopher Duffy * 2nd assistant musical director - Tim Davies * Keyboard 1 - Michael Weiß * Keyboard 2 - Bastian von der Linde * Guitar 1 - Felix Theiss * Guitar 2 - Bruno Blättler * Bass - Ian Stewart * Drums - Ralf Neuhaus 2019 Creatives * Associate Director/Choreographer - Mykal Randhttps://twitter.com/mykal_rand/status/1155787993573220352 2020 Cast The cast list was announced as the new cast began rehearsals in February 2020. References Category:Productions